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Our ds is an avid reader and has a good imagination and can and does tell good stories, but when it comes to writing something down he doesn't seem to put more than a few words just enough to complete the thought. He is 7 now and I am just wondering how much to expect. Thanks for your input.

I am interested in this question also. My ds is VERY creative also and LOVES to talk, but hates to actually write it down. The reason is probably partly laziness , but also because he's not good at spelling. He writes more when he doesn't care about the spelling.

Recently, he entered a Lego contest and needed to write a short essay with his picture. I wanted to encourage him to enter these contests, because they might be a good motivator to write more. So......whether this is right or wrong, I don't know , but I told him to tell me his essay and I would write it down first for him and that he would have to copy it in order to send it in. He took all day to copy the essay, but he did it.

So....very interested in help in this "reluctant writer" problem too! It's also probably a good idea to let them write without correcting their spelling. Work on that separately and pray it comes?! In the contest, I knew the words would have to be spelt correctly, so that's why I wrote it first too. HTH

God bless, Michelle

Seven years old is pretty young to enjoy writing much. At that age, they're still thinking how to properly form each letter and then they're also trying to think how each word should be spelled - which really diminishes creative writing ability. Imagine if we learned to write really difficult scroll-type calligraphy, and then were asked to use that writing to write creatively, and on top of it had to write words we weren't familiar with how to spell. Simply the task of writing the letters/words would take our concentration. That's what it's like for beginning writers. Your 7 yo sounds very typical for his age - creative writing lessons don't begin until PHFHG, and then they are quite guided. PHFHG is also when written narrations begin. Up until that point, writing is largely in the form of copywork, and independent writing is kept to a minimum amount. This is so dc can learn to write properly by copying quality writing first. My ds just blossomed with his writing in PHFHG, but I know it's due to the years prior to that when he worked on the mechanics of writing first. I just want to encourage you that this is the way it's supposed to go, and that your ds is doing just fine for his age!

In Christ,
Julie